Spun yarn from artificial staple fibers and method of making same



Patented Jan. 11, 19 38 SPUN YARN FROM ARTIFICIAL STAPLE mans AND METHOD OF MAKING SAIWE Camille Dreyfus, New York, N. Y.

N Drawing. Application April 5, 1934, Serial No. 719,147

3 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of staple fibers containing organic derivatives of cellulose and like materials and to yarns con taining the same.

An object of the invention is the economic and expeditious production of yarns from artificially formed staple fibers, said yarns having high covering power and being susceptible to being dyed by all types of dyes. Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description.

By this invention relatively short filaments or staples of derivatives of cellulose are weighted to give to them a. body which will aid in the carding, drafting and yarn forming operations.

1 The more full body, the greater weight and the improved surface texture of the treated fibers adapt them to the formation of a yarn and cloth having both superior strength and covering power than similar derivative of cellulose fibers that have not been treated.

Attempts have been made to derive improved drafting and carding properties in staple fibers formed of derivatives of cellulose by applying a size thereto or an agent that roughens the surface of the fibers, which size or roughening agent later had to be removed. By this invention the yarns that are treated maintain their superior qualities permanently. They add covering properties to the fabrics formed therefrom.

Another advantage of this invention is that the fibers, processed in accordance therewith, although formed of organic derivatives of cellulose, may be dyed with cotton dyes, wool dyes or the dyes normally employed to dye organic derivatives of cellulose. Further, discharge printing, using any of these dyes, is commercially successful. Discharge printing of blacks and other relatively dark colors may be performed, resulting in sharply lined prints of the dark color and a pure white at the locality of the discharge.

Although the texture of the fibers and their afiinity to cotton and wool dyes are changed, the fibers are substantially unsaponified. By the treatment according to the invention, however, the ironing properties are improved, that is, the melting and scorching temperatures are raised to 50 C. or more.

According to this invention I weight filaments or yarns of organic derivatives of cellulose and like materials that are to be used as staple fiber in forming a spun yarn. The filaments, yarns or fibers may be weighted with a compound of any suitable weighting metal such as tin, tungl sten, zinc, antimony and the like.

In carrying out the process of the present in-' vention the yarns, filaments or fibers made of or containing organic derivatives of cellulose may be treated in hank form,-as-bundles of fibers, loose or in any other form with a solution of the desired weighting metal'compound which preferably contains swelling or gelling agents for the derivative of cellulose or which itself acts as such swelling agent. The derivatives of cellulose that readily lend themselves to this invention are the organic esters and ethers of cellulose. Examples of the organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate. while examples of the organic ethers of cellulose are ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose.

These organic derivatives of cellulose may be dissolved in a suitable solvent, with or without plasticizers and efiect materials, and then formed by extruding the solution through suitable orifices, accompanied by solvent removal or by precipitation, either by an evaporative medium or by a coagulating bath, into filaments of the desired denier. These filaments may be wound into hanks and treated with the weighting solutions or they may be cut, or crimped and then out, into staples having a length of say 1 to 12 inches, and the bundles of the cut fiber treated with the weighting solution. The treated staple fiber then may be processed into yarns by the processes customarily employed in the manufacture of cotton or wool yarn. The difiiculty formerly experienced in carding and drafting artificialstaple fibers, that were not experienced in processing natural fibers, is greatly reduced.

The staple fibers processed according to this invention may be mixed with cotton and/or wool fibers prior to carding'therefrom or the fibers may be blended with wool and/or cotton fibers while carding. Yarns and fabrics made of the composite fibers have the advantage that all these components may be dyed with the same dyestufi. For example, a mixture of cotton and cellulose acetate fibers may be dyed with any suitable cotton dye, whereas formerly it was necessary to give the material two dye treatments one for cotton and one for cellulose acetate, with the inherent problem of matching colors. Similarly, in discharge printing only one discharge materlal need be employed.

When the material is weighted in the yarn and filament form, the same may be unwound and formed into bands or groups and crimped in ac- V cordance with U. 8. application S. No. 717,928, filed March 29, 1934, and thereafter cut to staple ments with the stannic lengths or it may be treated and cut to staple lengths without crimping by the process disclosed in U. S. application S. No. 695,503, filed October 27, 1933. The fibers may also be weighted after they have been cut to staple length by immersing loosely grouped fibers in the weighting bath.

As an illustration, and not as a limitation, the following example of weighting treatment is given.

Example 1 kilogram of cellulose acetate or butyrate yarn in hank is treated for thirty minutes in a bath consisting of 30 kilogram of stannic chloride of 40 Tw., the bath being maintained at a temperature of between 40 and C. The yarn is removed from the bath and rinsed with cold water. The yarn is now entered in a bath of disodium phosphate of 7 Tw. After treatment in the phosphate bath the yarn is removed and rinsed. It may then be given repeated treatphate baths to impart greater weighting. After rinsing, it is finallytreated with 7 Tw. of sodium silicate and then washed. The thus loaded yarn is cut into staple length and processed to spun yarn in any manner customary in the wool or cotton art.

The types, conditions and concentrations of the weighting process may vary eonsiderabLv according to the amount of weighting desired; Thus the factors of time, temperature, relative and total concentration as well as the particular protective agents, weighting salts and swelling agents'may be varied in accordance with known methods, such for instance asis disclosed in U. S.

chloride and the phos- Patents Nos. 1,631,062, 1,731,298, 1,798,836, 1,905,- 453, 1,805,467, 1,805,468, 1,806,043, 1,817,741, 1,821,464 and 1,867,658.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and many alterations may be made therein, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Havingdescribed my invention, what I desire v to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Method of forming spun yarn, which comprises incorporating a weighting metal compound in short lengths or staple fibers containing organic derivatives of cellulose whereby the carding and drawing properties of said short lengths or staple fibers are greatly enhanced, associating said short lengths or staple fibers and spinning the same to form spun yarn.

2. Method of forming spun yarn, which comprises incorporating a weighting metal compound in short lengths or staple fibers containing cellulose acetate whereby the carding and drawing properties of said short lengths or staple fibers are greatly enhanced, associating said short lengths or staple fibers and spinning the same to form spun yarn.

3. Method of forming spun yarn, which comprises incorporating stannic phosphate in short lengths or staple fiberscontaining cellulose acetate whereby the carding and drawing properties of said short lengths or staple fibers are greatly enhanced, associating said short lengths or staple fibers and spinning the same to form spun yarn.

CAIMILLE DREYFUS. 

